Version 2.6

Yesterday was my 26th birthday. What did I know last year that I will be almost 40 weeks pregnant on my birthday in 2021! Usually I am excitedly waiting for my birthday but this one is a bit different because I did not know if the baby decides to come first or my birthday will be first – I selfishly did not want to share it. Luckily, she was a good girl and decided to wait a bit for me to enjoy my day.

One of my favorite things to do on my birthday is either a long run (but obviously I can’t now) or a long walk – unfortunately, the weather was 100% rain so I could not do that but we made the best of the day anyways. My body decided that it will be fun to wake up at 5am so I rambled around the house, talked to my parents who were up by then in Europe and my cousin and then read a bit before Nicolas and Sherlock woke up. I had a day off yesterday so I was not working and Nicolas spent half of the day at work so I had the morning to myself. I really rather started enjoying these quiet mornings in the past few years – when I was younger, I would feel upset if I don’t get any calls or would spend my birthday alone. It made me feel left out and bitter, I guess. Now, I came to love being alone for at least part of the day – lazily read in bed, cuddle the dog, get up and enjoy the air outside or just ramble around in the bookstore looking through the books and treating myself to some new exciting specimens. This is exactly what I did yesterday – read in bed, napped with the dog, had breakfast, had my phone turned off for most of the morning – I started finding bliss in solitude and slow living. Maybe that is really the sign of getting old?

In the afternoon, we went to one of my favorite places which is plant nursery – it opened for the first day of the season yesterday. We got some plants for our summer garden and since it was my birthday, Nicolas could not really stop me from buying anything there. We got some chives, different kinds of hot peppers and tomatoes, zucchinis and salad and some cucumber seeds. I really enjoyed gardening last year and this is something that I am really excited about this year again. We had made so many pickles last year that we are still finishing them but it was super fun to do so this year we are tweaking more our garden and even got one bush of blackcurrant to add.

After plant nursery, we headed to the book store where I wanted to pick up a few books – a gift to me from me. We also booked some Asian food pickup in Montreal but we were too early so while waiting we stumbled upon a bubble tea place called Labothery – you can make a custom ice tea, slush, smoothies. I picked up the green apple and mango mix and Nicolas tried litchi and lemon. They turned our pretty good! We then picked up our food and enjoyed the movie at home – rather cheesy French movie called the African doctor but I liked it because it was light, humorous, easy to follow and I could practice French. It might not be that fun to have your birthday when everything is closed but I think we made the best of it.

As of today, I am starting my maternity leave – it is really unusual to think that I won’t be working for the next six months! But talking to my coach about it, I am rather excited – I have been throwing myself into different things for the past few years and this will be a good time for slowing down, reflection and determining my priorities. On to meet the little baby girl!